Social Loafing

Today, I think I will just tell you all a little bit about my team. These are the girls that I worked my ass off last year to get back on the field with, and the motivation is not there. Why is the motivation not there anymore? Social loafing is the answer to that question. So what is social loafing? According to Weinberg and Gould in Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Social Loafing is the phenomenon whereby individuals within a group put forth less than 100% effort because of losses in motivation. In essence, there is a diffusion of responsibility and indivduals believe that others in the group will pick up the slack. So, when is it most likely to occur? Well, as stated by the same authors in the same book; Social Loafing appears to occur more when an individual’s output cannot be independently evaluated, the task is perceived to be low in meaningfulness, the individual’s personal involvement in the task is low, a comparison against group standards is not possible, other individuals contributing to the collective effort are strangers, the individual’s teammates are seen as high in ability, and individuals perceive that their contribution to the outcome is redundant.

So how can this be applied to my team. Well, our coach did not recruit actively this past season, meaning that there is at most three people per position, and that would be pitching. Every other spot on the field has one, maybe two people to it. So using the definition above, we have a high possibility of social loafing as there is not a possibility for a comparison against group standards because we don't have the standards to go off of. In fact, I can see why they are doing this as they have no reason to work harder. Why work harder when there is no one who will take away your playing time? This shows that a good amount of my team lacks intrinsic motivation, they lack a drive to be better for themselves, and only will work to be better if and only if there is someone who could possibly take their playing time away from them. I really wish that there was that drive in more than just a few players, but unfortunately, you cannot build intrinsic motivation in people who do not wish to be motivated, and so the only thing that will change this climate is to gain the amount of players needed to create a competition to these positions.

Vegetarian Once a Day

Hello Everyone,

     One thing I have decided to do this year was to eat healthier, so less fats, less extra's, and more vibrant colorful vegetables. One of the ways I plan to do this is to eat only one meal with meat a day. Which means breakfast and one other meal are going to be strictly vegetarian. Notice I said vegetarian and not vegan. It really isnt that hard when you love foods such as blackbeans, hummus, and tofu. Also, its not hard when you look at what you eat and realize that though there isn't meat on the plate, everything looks pretty together, and tastes even more satisfying than fried chicken. Yes, I just said it. An akron girl just dissed fried chicken, the food of her youth, the food that makes the world go round. The thing is, after a while you don't miss the meat. You don't miss the fried fatty foods, and you don't miss the overcooked roast. What you do miss every now and then is a little bit of perfectly cooked sea food, and baked chicken, but thats what the one meal with meat is there for. What are some ways you are working on your health goals this year?

Yours Truly,
Laurel Lee

Motivation

Lately, I can't seem to get motivated. Sure I do go to the gym and do, do my workouts but I cannot get motivated to actually enjoy it. I almost dread going to the gym every other day. Sure its stress relief normally, but now it just seems to be harder and harder to get myself to go.  I think it has to do with the amount of homework I have, and how tired I normally am after work, class, and friend time. I almost have no time for myself and it shows in my sleep cycles. I am going to change it up tomorrow and swim for a bit. That should help somewhat. Maybe thats what I need a change, or softball to just start up, that would work too.

Fitness Resolutions 2012

Its that lovely time of year again, where everyone makes resolutions and sticks with them for as long as they can. I am going to stick with mine until the end of the year. One, because I am staying on campus meaning I will have access to a gym all summer, and two because I need to get myself back in the shape I was in earlier in the year, and stick there. So here are my fitness resolutions for this upcoming year.

1. Learn to like healthy: Our bodies need to eat to live, and some days I feel as though I live to eat. So its back to portion control, and filling my plate with the healthy stuff with a small splurge here and there.

2. 1.5 hours of cardio per week: note I said cardio and not strength training. I used to go to the gym and if I was not feeling that great skip cardio and just strength train. Then it turned into only strength training. So now I am going to start small, 20 minutes per day of cardio, and slowly work back up. Also, I will be doing cardio on top of my softball practices when the time comes for it.

3. Improve my Posture: I slouch too much and feel like I am sixty. I need to get my posture back to where it needs to be, one because it will help me look slimmer, and two because it will help me feel better.

Though there are only three resolutions there, small as they may be, they will help me improve my balance, coordination, eating habits, and help maintain my weight loss and muscle tone.

What are your goals for the new year?
Yours Truly,
Laurel Lee

Fitness Resolutions

Hello Everyone,

  It's almost christmas, and soon after new years. That typically means starting the news years resolutions and the ever changing new year. Well I figure its time to start things up a little early. First off, I am going to aim for more cardio, and more softball specific actions in the form of sprints, and pitching. I also am going to try to even out my arms. My workout partner makes fun of me every so often because my pitching arm can lift close to twice as much as my other.

Sure its only two, but just with those lifestyle changes, there will be quite a large amount of improvement.

 Happy End of the Year
 Happy Holidays

Laurel Lee

I notice how everytime I state that I will be more regular on this blog, is when I jump off and run away from it for weeks. SO here is the rundown, I slipped up, gained three pounds, started calorie counting again. Finally got some time to run today, and have been doing ab workouts for the past week since they only take a few minutes. Here's to losing it back before the season starts.

Nerves and More

My one year after surgery checkup for my ankle is this coming week, and needless to say I am nervous. This is my clearance checkpoint, my permission to go without the ankle brace. My freedom from restriction, and my ability to wear heels again. But this also means that if something is wrong, that I lose all the things I just recently gained back. This time last year I was on crutches, not even allowed to place any weight on my ankle, and honestly, I have come quite a long way. I went from moving on crutches to running miles, to pitching, sprinting, and twisting on my ankle which previously wasn't allowed to be even moved. Its wierd to think about how far I have come, and how far I have yet to go.

Now that emotional spiel is over, I am back to working out almost regularly, though the exact days seem to change. I make sure to elliptical at least three times a week, and do sprint work once a week in a strength and conditioning session. I work out with a friend, so we use free weights more often since we have spotters, and honestly, by the end of the winter, we are going to be beasts on the field

Pitching though, that is another story as I pitched for the first time in three weeks yesterday, and let me tell you, it was not great. Not horrible, but not great. I am hitting this saturday to my wonderful first basewoman, who happens to be one of my closest friends on campus. Scratch that, she is the closest.

Having a partner helps. They help motivate you to be better, and to work harder. They also typically know your limit, so having them helps on those days that you really just do not want to go on. They push you, in a good way, so once you find one who gets you, keep them.